


It Takes a Village

by AGL03



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feels, Fluff, Team is family, fitzsimmons family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16138844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AGL03/pseuds/AGL03
Summary: One shot add-ons from A Promise Kept as Deke has moments with his extended family.Latest Chapter:  Daisy





	1. Chapter 1

When they had first returned from the future Deke had stayed close to his Grandparents. Overwhelmed by the earth he’d never known and the fear of losing them again meant he was never far from either of their sides. 

But as time went on and he grew more comfortable with his new life he slowly got to know his extended family of aunts and uncles. 

\----------------

Mack watched the look of intense concentration on Deke’s face as he worked on putting the old walkie talkie he’d torn apart back together. At that moment Mack easily seeing both of his friends in the boy. 

“How’s it going Turbo?” Mack asked with a smile as he leaned against the door frame.

Deke didn’t look up from his work but answered. “Almost done,” he said. The pile of parts strewn across the table saying otherwise.

Mack glanced up at the clock and noted the late hour, Simmons would have his head if she knew how far past his bedtime Deke was up. 

“How about we wrap it up until the morning the, it’s pretty late and Simmons was pretty clear about when you should be in bed...and that was three hours ago,” Mack said turning off a couple of the workshops lights for emphasis. 

“Five more minutes?” Deke asked looking up at Mack with pleading eyes.

Mack chuckled, having Fitz give him that looks many times over the years, and ushered his charge to the door, “You said that two hours ago, now come on its time for bed. Everything will be here in the morning.”

Deke sighed and finally slipped off his stool pausing to grab his tool before finally following Mack to the door. Quickly wiping his eyes as he passed the older agent. Mack caught the move but didn’t say anything yet, not wanting to embarrass him or scare him away if he needed to talk. 

They walked in silence until they arrived at Fitzsimmons bunks. Mack let them in and Deke looked at his Grandparents dark empty room with a sigh before heading into his room across what had become their sitting room/office. Fitz having modified a few bunks into a family unit so each of them could have their own space but still be together. Mack made a mental note to ask Fitz to do the same thing for he and Elena when the pair returned. 

Mack stopped admiring the small home Fitzsimmons had made for their family when he heard another sniffle from Dekes room and decided it was time to intervene. 

He stopped at the door and found Deke now in his pajamas, wrapped in one of Fitz’s old cardigans, furiously wiping his eyes as he crawled into the bed. 

“Do you want to talk about it Turbo?” Mack asked happy Fitz had given the cherished nickname to his Grandson.

Deke slipped under his covers and clutched his monkey close for a moment before he looked up at the larger man. 

“How much longer until they come back?” he asked unable to keep the waiver from his voice. 

Now it all made sense, Mack thought. Deke had been stalling not wanting to return to an empty home.

“Tomorrow Turbo,” Mack said sitting down in the armchair at the foot of his bed. “The team felt they could use a bit of a honeymoon since they got married so we sent them to a small bed and breakfast in town for the night.” 

Deke nodded. He knew his Grandparents were newly weds and really did deserve some time just the two of them, but it was also the first time he’d been away from both of them since Jemma had been brought to his room. Let alone overnight. 

“Okay,” Deke said fighting tears again. Determined not to cry in front of Mack. “I’ll meet you in the mess for breakfast then.” The tears could fall after he left.

Mack looked at him with a raised eyebrow and small smile. 

“Or how about I stay here and tell you a story, Fitz said they read or tell you one every night,” Mack said seeing Deke peer out from the covers in interest. He loved hearing stories. "Did they ever tell you about the time Jemma saved Fitz from a room full of mutated agents with nothing more than a computer and something she saw Fitz do at the Academy?”

The tears in Deke’s eyes had given away to excitement and curiosity as he propped himself up on his pillows to give his full attention to Mack. “No!”

Mack laughed and settled back into the chair, propping his feet up on the plush footstool intent on spending the night at the kid's side. “We were busy trying to save the world from a centuries-old evil parasite and Fitz had gone down to the hanger to check on a shipment....”


	2. B-Squad

"Next time our base is destroyed by an army of evil robots we need to make sure we upgrade to something nice, new, and modern," Piper grumbled as she shown the flashlight into the now exposed pipes that ran above what they were converting into a new common area. "Possibly not inhabited by all manner of vermin". 

"Agreed, we had to retile the Playgrounds main bathroom before we could all use it," Davis said a few feet away before freezing and holding up his hand for silence. Listening for the scratching noise that had brought them there in the first place. 

"What are you doing?" a new voice asked from the door and the pair turned to find Deke watching them curiously carrying two mugs of steaming tea in his hands. 

Deke was slowly getting more comfortable with his new life at the Lighthouse and around the rest of the team. Even taking to exploring on his own every now and again. Though this time seemed he'd left them for a tea run, Fitzsimmons had been in the lab since the wee hours of the morning and were due for a break before Coulson and May forcibly pulled them out of the lab. 

Davis smiled at their new arrival before fixing his attention back on the ceiling when he heard something jump just to his left. 

"Just trying to find what was living up in here so we can take it out to a better home," Davis said finally catching a flash of yellow eyes and a tail before it moved again.

Piper cursed and followed the sound with her mop handle, only stopping long enough to look at the teen still in the door. "Do not repeat that word....especially around your grandmother." 

Deke merely set the tea down and came farther into the room and picked up the broom by the door. "Would you like some help?

The pair of Agents shared a look. On one hand an extra set of hands and eyes would be nice for flushing the creature out. On the other, that extra set of hands belonged to Fitzsimmons grandson and neither of them wanted to explain to them if he got bitten by a raccoon or scratched by a squirrel trying to help them out. 

Piper tapped her own stick up into the pipes and Davis was about to politely decline when a loud hiss followed by an animalistic scream came from where Piper had hit. A ball of fur flew out and onto the floor after. The trio couldn't help but scream themselves started as the creature darted around the room in the dull light, knocking over various stacks of supplies before settling into a corner behind some bits of wood and pipes. 

"You okay?" Davis asked looked both Deke and Piper over before slowly moving to the corner with his flashlight. 

"Stay back," Piper warned the boy following her partner.

Deke did as he was told and watched as Piper carefully shifted the items away and Davis got his light into the corner, finally illuminating the creature and breathing a sigh of relief. 

"Its just a cat," Piper said with a laugh before she motioned Deke forward. 

Davis knelt on the floor to get a better look. "And not a very old one at that," he said, "looks to be a calico kitten". 

Deke carefully leaned forward next to him to look at the frightened animal now shaking with fear as it was cornered. He'd seen domesticated cats in his books and larger ones at the zoo his grandparents had taken him too. But not one this close and he was utterly fascinated. 

"Hey there," he said slowly scooting closer and holding his hand out. 

"Looks pretty young," Davis said looking wearily up into the pipes above at the prospect of a whole colony of cats living up there. 

"And thin," Piper added. The team's arrival and efforts to make the Lighthouse more habitable likely chased away what the cat was eating in the way of mice. 

Deke reached into his jacket and pulled out a carefully wrapped but messy sandwich that practically oozed some sort of green substance from the sides. The smell of pesto hitting Piper and Davis like a truck as he unwrapped it. They, of course, knew of the Fitzsimmons sandwich, one of those stories gossiped about in hushed whispers before the pair finally got together. And in warning to never touch those sacred ingredients should one come across them in the fridge....no matter how desperate you were for a snack. 

Piper let out a mix of a cough and laugh at the site and hide her hand behind her mouth for a moment before speaking. "That's quite the sandwich you have there Deke," she said. 

Deke flashed her a proud smile and tore a piece of the prosciutto meat off that was hanging out of the side and offered it out to the kitten. 

"I made it for Bobo," he said happily. "Mom said they were his favorite things and only Nana could make them right. But I wanted to try because he's been working so hard."

The Kitten sniffed eagerly at the meat and took a tentative step closer to Deke which only brightened his smile more. "Come on," he coaxed "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm sure Fitz will love it," Davis said, "it was very thoughtful of you." 

The Kitten was now right next Deke and reached out to take a tentative lick of the meat before letting out a pleased meow that Deke positively beamed over. He set the food down and watched as the kitten ate it up and the additional bits that Deke tore from the sides of the sandwich before wrapping it back up. 

"Sorry, the rest is for Bobo," he said. 

The kitten meowed again and finally got close enough to rub itself along Deke's hands while it purred loudly. 

Deke let out a small gasp of surprise at the soft feel of the fur under his fingertips before he gently started petting. Not long after the kitten was purring happily in his lap. 

"What are you going to do with it?" Deke asked. "You said you were going to find it a better place to live."

Davis shot another look at Piper, they hadn't thought a cat was up there. They'd intended on letting whatever they found go into one of the fields outside of the small town. 

"I'm not sure Deke," Davis said answeringly honestly. "Hopefully we can take it to a local shelter. There a Vet can give it a check up and then a nice family can adopt it." 

"Oh," he said soundly slightly disappointed. "Can I still hold it until you are ready to go?" Deke asked the mugs of tea long forgotten in the door and the sandwich back in his pocket as he scooted up against the couch and let the kitten fall asleep in his lap as he continued to stroke its silky fur. 

"Sure thing Kid," Piper said as she caught Davis's eye with a nod. As far as they were concerned the kitten had found a home. "I'm going to run and check the stores for some cleaning supplies and something to put it in." 

\---------------------------------------

Jemma willed herself not to run through the halls of The Lighthouse calling Deke's name. Fitz hot on her heels looking just as worried. Deke had left ages ago to grab them cups of tea, wanting to help them as they worked through a particularly difficult problem. But when he didn't return the pair began to worry he'd either gotten lost or perhaps hurt himself in the kitchen. 

They turned the corner and ran headlong into Piper who was pushing a cart overflowing supplies in front of her and knocked some of the boxes onto the floor. 

"Oh I'm so sorry," Jemma said helping to gather the items so they could continue their search.

"Do you happen to be looking for the kid?" Piper asked with a smile at their frazzled looks. "He stopped to help us and got a bit distracted."

She quickly lead the way into the room they'd been remodeling the pair sighing in relief when they saw Deke sitting against the wall gently stroking what looked like a ball of fur.

"Nana, Bobo!" He said pointing to his lap "We found a kitten and Davis and Piper are letting me watch it until they have to take it to the shelter....sorry the tea might be a little cold now."

"That's quite alright," Fitz said as he settled down next to Deke and gave him a quick squeeze before stroking the kitten himself. It's head looking up at the new arrivals and a pleased meow. 

"You just gave us a start," Jemma said.

"Do you think one day, when we are all settled, I could get a cat? I promise I'll take care of it. Davis has told me all about what I'll need to do," Deke said scratching its ears again. 

Fitz beat Jemma to the answer "Absolutely," Fitz agreed "one day we'll get a bunch of animals that you can play in the garden of the cottage with them." 

"I look forward to that," Deke said dreamily and gave the kitten a hug "You are going to make a family very happy Kitty". Fitz looked happily at his grandson while Davis couldn't resist snapping a picture on his phone, quickly sending it to the entire team.

Piper chose that moment to nudge a practically melting Jemma and show her the contents of the cart, turned out whoever set up the Lighthouse had expected the inhabitants to bring their pets as well. 

Jemma knew it was powerless to fight but fixed Piper with a stern yet playful look "You are going to show him how to clean the litter box."

\--------------------------

A few hours later Deke was curled up in his bed fast asleep with a smile playing on his lips, stuffed monkey clutched in his arms, and Lemons the kitten curled up at his side. Deke has spent the entire evening setting up his room for the new arrival. Using tools and bits of scraps from around the Lighthouse to make a cat tree and a few beds for him. Tomorrow he would start on toys.

Jemma snapped a picture of the sweet scene and sent it to the team, following up on the picture Davis had sent earlier. With a happy sigh leaned against Fitz's chest as he wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss to her temple. Jemma unable to stop the giggle as he pulled away as she caught a whiff of Pesto still on his lips.

"I can't believe you ate that whole sandwich, he put my entire container of Pesto aiole on it."


	3. Hunter

Deke slipped out of his families bunk and quietly latched the door behind him, careful not to wake his grandparents who were still happily snuggled in each other's arms. That done he smiled down at Lemons who chirped back at him, the kitten now his constant shadow. Normally Deke would wait for them to wake too and go with them down to breakfast, but he'd been too excited to sleep any longer. 

Fitz had introduced him to football the other day and his new favorite team was playing. But since the match was in England, it was on well before anyone in the Lighthouse would normally rise and he'd be able to claim the newly installed large television all to himself. He only made a quick stop into the kitchen for a bag of popcorn and one of the sugary drinks called Soda Fitz hid for him for special occasions. Though if Jemma were to ask where he'd gotten the Soda he was to blame Daisy or Coulson. 

"Okay, Lemons lets go," He said heading into the dark lounge. 

Deke was thrilled to find it was dark, empty, and all his. Everyone else was still asleep and Coulson and May were off on a mission together that Deke felt suspiciously like the dates his Grandparents would go on every now and then.

He felt around in the dark for the remote and found it in its normal spot of the coffee table and went to flop onto the old worn leather couch they'd found at a thrift store. Only instead of falling into the rich leather, he landed flat on a person.

Deke screamed and scrambled away, Lemons hissing and taking a swipe at interloper who had scared his human, and by the yelp, the person made the cat had succeeded in its mission. 

The figure stood up cursing up a storm with an English accent, a large fluffy blanket wrapped around him making them look even bigger and more menacing in the low light.

Lemons hissed again and curled protectively in front of Deke and Deke didn't cower in fear either. He hurled his heavy can of soda at the figured and caught them fully in the head to earn another cry of pain. 

"Stay away from me!" Deke screamed as he worked his way towards the door. 

"Stay away from you? Bloody Hell stay away from me with your beast there," the figure said as they moved towards the door as well "Couple inches to the left and I could have lost an eye!" 

"NANA! BOBO!" Deke screamed, "Help!"

"Who the Hell are Nana and Bobo?" the figure said when the sounds of footsteps running down the hall signaled the team had heard the struggle and were on their way. 

A woosh of wind came first and the lights in the room suddenly came on. Elena had used her speed to get the lights on, Mack burst through the door seconds later with his shotgun ax armed and ready. That display followed with an ominous rumble the second door burst open with Daisy, her arms raised and ready to attack.

"WHAT THE HELL! Can't a bloke surprise his friends after they return from god knows where and sleeping heaven only knows how long in a freezer!" Hunter screamed holding his hands up high, his friends were clearly in a shoot first and ask questions later frame of mind. 

"Hunter?" Mack said in surprise and lowered his weapon.

Fitzsimmons chose that moment to push their way forward. Hunter got ready for them to run to him, and embrace him in a hug. Maybe for Jemma to fuss over his scratch and what felt like a rapidly blackening eye from the can of soda. But instead, they ran straight for the brown hair blue eyed kid still backed against the wall with a kitten poised and ready to strike in front of him. 

"Are you alright?" Jemma said as she ran her hands over his face and looked for any sign of injury. Fitz scratching the demonic hellcat on the head as he praised it. 

The kid nodded and snuggled into her embrace, his blue eyes scowling at Hunter. Blue eyes Hunter would know anywhere since the looked exactly like Fitz's.

Elena suddenly appeared at Hunters side again and handed him an ice pack and an open beer. "You're gonna need both of those," she said with a mischevious smile. 

Hunter placed the pack on his eye with a wince and took a long swig of the beer before he spoke again. "How long were you gone? Because Fitz didn't say anything about Jemma being pregnant when that rock ate you lot."

Fitz came over and finally gave his friend a hug. "It's a long story that will require a few more beers and some gin for Jemma," Fitz said. "But the cliff notes version is this is Deke, he is our Grandson from the future. He lost his family so we brought him back with us. Deke, this is Lace Hunter." 

Deke's eyes widened at the name and he quickly disentangled himself from his grandmother to run over to Hunter, "The Lance Hunter?!"

"Oh no," Jemma whispered and Dasiy shared a concerned look with her at what was to come next. Hunter positively beamed and made a point to ignore how Mack rolled his eyes.

Deke immediately launched into a series of rapid-fire questions as he bounced excitedly around the man he'd grown up hearing so much about.

"Did you really break Bobo out of prison all by yourself with a couple of ferrets?" 

"And shoot Aunt May with an Icer? That was really stupid by the way."

"What about when the ninjas came to your and Aunt Bobbi's wedding?"

"Where is Aunt Bobbi?"

"Did you bring your house on wheels that you hide Bobo in?"

"Can I drive it?"

"Do you have more ferrets?"

Deke paused for a moment and took a breath. "And how in the world are you a Liverpool fan, you must know that Man U is the best."

The last comment sent up an audible groan through the rest of the team. 

Hunter was now looking at Deke with abject horror again and everyone knew what was coming. 

"Come on," Jemma said as she gave Fitz a quick kiss on the cheek and motioned the others out before the fireworks began. "I'll make everyone pancakes." 

The team filed out as three sets of voices argued about the finer points of their favorite team. Fitz not even batting an eye as he turned on the match between the aforementioned rivals that Deke had come to watch in the first place. 

Lemons even abandoning his master in favor of the retreating team and the hope of a few nips of bacon from Elena or Daisy. They were halfway down the hall to the kitchen when Hunter screamed again.

"When did you get married?"


	4. Bobbi

"Please Nana," Deke begged over breakfast as Jemma worked the skillet preparing breakfast for him. 

"Yes, please Nana," Hunter echoed from the bar stool next to Deke though he was focused on Fitz who was preparing the tea. 

Jemma flipped the batch she had on the burner and eyed the pair with what she thought was a firm look. Though she feared it was coming off as more of a bemused smile. Deke and Hunter sitting at the counter so they could beg to go on a trip up to River's end. Despite the rocky start Hunter and Deke had become fast friends and partners in crime around the base. 

Hunter pressed on "How about it Bobo," he prodded with a smile since he knew full well Deke was the only one who got away with calling Fitz that. "I take Deke topside for just a few hours. Dinner, movie and we're back here with the hell beast by bedtime." Lemons meowing from his perch on Deke's shoulder at the nickname Hunter had given him that fateful first night. 

"Please," Deke asked again. "I've never seen a movie on the big screen before and Hunter said the theater is doing a special run of Harry Potter! With a real live orchestra. And you have those experiments you want to run that I can't be in the lab for so this keeps me and him out of your hair." 

Jemma sighed and shared a look with Fitz who finally relented. "Back by bedtime and you two promise to clean the kitchen tomorrow."

"Properly clean it," Jemma added as she placed their breakfast before them "none of the put the dirty dishes back in the cabinets and hide the rubbish in the cereal boxes nonsense you pulled last time." 

"Deal," Hunter and Deke said in unison.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Dinner had been Deke's very first Pizza, which had rapidly shot to the top of Deke's favorite foods list, and more soda that Jemma would have allowed him in a week. During the movie, he'd been on the edge of his seat and eyes practically glittered with excitement the entire time. Fascinated not only by the movie but the technology that projected it onto the screen and the instruments that created the music. 

Hunter couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he listened to Deke babble excitedly as they walked down the street back to the car. He could only hope the bit of exercise would get some of the sugar out of the boy's system before they had to face Jemma. 

They came to the final street that would lead to the Lighthouses secret entrance when Hunter felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and something flash in the shadows above him. 

With a growl, he grabbed Deke and pulled the teen behind him and drew his gun in one fluid motion. Deke immediately fell silent and pressed against his honorary uncle. 

"Listen up you gits," Hunter said to the darkness "I am far more afraid of this kids family than I am of whoever you are so I suggest you all move along and no one has to end up with a bullet in them."

"Sounds like the kid is more valuable than your sorry hide then," a voice with a heavy French accent said as a figured clad in black emerged from the shadows with a gun of his own in hand.

"Batroc," Hunter hissed and pressed Deke even farther behind him. Even as more shadowed gave way to more and more men.

Batroc gave a slight bow but did not lower his weapon. "My employer is quite displeased with you and your wife Mr. Hunter, you two broke up what was a very profitable underground operation. He has sent me to collect on that debt and send a message."

"Ex-Wife," Hunter said, "and your right out of your mind if you think that she's going to allow anyone but herself the pleasure of ending me." 

"She doesn't seem to be here does she?" Batroc said as he slowly advanced. "And once you are out of the way I'll see what makes that kid there so special, a way for my employer to recoup some of those losses perhaps?" 

Hunter caught site of two of Batroc's men getting yanked into the shadows and the faintest of blue sparks signaling exactly who was out there. He switched tracks and stood his ground, setting the trap and used himself as the bait.

"I have no idea where she is right now, we parted ways after Tokyo. I'll tell you what. You let the kid go, and I'll go with you, you can threaten me, I'll even let you rough me up a bit. I'm sure Bob will eventually show up to kick all of your asses....then we can go lay on a beach for a few weeks." Hunter said before he turned to Deke. "Never use that word around Simmons alright?"

"I assure you Mr. Hunter if Miss Morse should cross my path ever again, neither of you will live to tell the tale as you are no match for my skills," Batroc said and Deke half expected him to start twirling his mustache like the villains in the old cartoons Mack had shown him. 

"About that," a female voice said as she dropped down right behind Batroc and with a few swift strikes from her staves Batroc was knocked out like the rest of his men. 

"Took you long enough!" Hunter exclaimed as he nudged the mercenary with his foot to make sure that he was out. "Were you going to actually let them take me?"

"I considered it after that stunt you pulled in Bangladesh. I haven't heard from you since and then I get word some idiot broke a shield agent out of an off the books military facility in broad daylight and escaped in an RV. Only to return to that same facility less than two days later and steal a warehouse full of secret weapons," she started when she suddenly found herself tackled by a small figure. 

"Bobbi!" Deke cried "That was Awesome! You took out all those bad guys so fast that none of them saw it coming, especially Mr. Mustache there! Are those the staves Bobo modified for you? Nana is going to be so happy to see you! And Uncle Mack says you are the only one who can keep Uncle Hunter in line."

Bobbi looked stunned down at the teenager even as Hunter looked affronted by the comments. 

"Oy! I'm right here!"

"Hunter!" Bobbi snapped and nodded at Deke who had yet to let her go. 

Hunter couldn't help but smile, it wasn't often he had more information than Bobbi. However, as tempting as it was to toy with her a bit longer he decided it wasn't worth the price he'd pay for years to come. 

"Bobbi, may I introduce you to our Godson. Deke Shaw," Hunter paused as she took in Godson before he continued. "Fitzsimmons." 

"I'm from the future!" Deke added helpfully when he finally let her go when something in the distance caught his eye and he took off running down the alley.

"Nana! Bobo!" Deke shouted as he ran to a concerned Fitzsimmons and pointed behind him. "Hunter let me have Pizza and soda machine with eight flavors. There were unlimited refills and I had twelve glasses! Then we saw the movie and can I learn how to play an instrument? On the way back some ninjas attacked us and Aunt Bobbi saved us! She kicked all these dudes asses! Oops, Uncle Hunter said not to use that word."

Hunter actually found himself taking a step back at the glare leveled at him by Jemma and was even more startled to find no ally in Fitz either. 

"Later," Jemma whispered to him as she rushed past to embrace Bobbi. 

Fitz followed second later, "I imagine you have some questions," he said with a playful smiled and gestured to the base's entrance. 

"That's putting it mildly," Bobbi said as she ruffled Deke's hair. "Lets' start where I have a Godson and work our way up to time travel from there." 

End


	5. Daisy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Sunalso! Least I could do after my EPIC Royal AU for Christmas! ENJOY! Deke is introduced to proper breakfast cereal.

Daisy still wasn't awake by the time she stumbled into the kitchen. Mornings had never been her strong suit, even with years in Shield and early morning training with May she still hated to be up before ten. Especially on a rare and unexpected morning off. Thus her first order of business was coffee, then sugar, then more coffee, and then she'd consider fully waking up.

"Morning Aunt Daisy!" a far too perky voice called from the barstools along the counter. The greeting followed by an even perkier meow and confirmed exactly who was there.

"Good morning Deke," Daisy said and made for the coffee maker. Her greeting was followed by another meow and Daisy turned to the counter to see the cat seated in Deke's lap staring at her expectantly. "And good morning to you Lemons," she said grumbling under her breath that even the animals of the family were crazy smart. Deke, as had become the norm, had a book in front of him to enjoy over breakfast.

"Where's Fitzsimmons?" Daisy asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Though the small family was getting more comfortable letting each other out of their line of sight, it was rare to not have Jemma there to do breakfast. 

"You broke your gauntlets yesterday and they need to fix them," Deke said and finally looked up from his book with a bemused expression that reminded Daisy so strongly of both of her friends.

Daisy flushed, her broken gauntlets were the reason for her morning off. Turns out the hand to hand combat training with Elena and her robotic arms was a bad idea. 

"Technically Elena broke them," Daisy countered as she took a sip of her coffee. 

Deke rolled his eyes but pulled over an empty bowl and shook a box of cereal he had, "Would you like some?"

Daisy nodded gratefully and grabbed the milk from the fridge before she went and joined him at the counter. The carton freezing over her bowl full of bland brown flakes. "What is this!?" she asked in horror. Breakfast cereal was not meant to be that color, cereal was full of sugary rainbows and unicorns.

"Cereal?" Deke said looking confused.

Daisy snatched the box, All Bran.

"Nope!" Daisy said any trace of her sleepiness now gone "no nephew of mine is going to suffer like this". She dumped the contents of her bowl in the trash followed by the half-full box.

"Um, Aunt Daisy, Nana said it's not polite to waste food," Deke said and let out a small squeak of surprise when Daisy snatched his half-finished bowl of cereal and dumped it down the sink.

"That is not food," Daisy said pulling out her phone and texting Jemma. It was time Deke got a proper breakfast cereal education...but Daisy wasn't about to leave the base with the kid without checking in. No one wanted to face Jemma's wrath when she was in what had been dubbed "mama bear" mode in terrified hushed whispers. 

It didn't take long for Jemma to respond back telling them to have fun and to pick up some extra carrots for dinner while at the store. So what if Daisy had forgotten to tell Jemma exactly what they were going to the store for.

"Alright kid, go get your shoes and jacket. You and I are going grocery shopping!"

Deke looked absolutely delighted and took off without another word. While most teens would be drug grocery shopping with their Aunt kicking and screaming. Deke loved going to the store and just admiring the shelves full of food. Even if Jemma steered him towards the more healthy options. Fitz did his best to sneak in treats, but Jemma did have an eagle eye.

Daisy was quick to dress and found Deke already waiting by the door to River's End with a handful of cloth bags. Lemons sat faithfully next to him and Daisy could swear the cat was giving her the evil eye for taking its human away. 

"We'll bring you back something too furball," Daisy promised and ushered Deke out the door.

\-----------------------------------------

The entered the store and Deke pulled a list out of his pocket. It was the one the team kept on the fridge as they ran out of items...when the hell had he gone back and grabbed that Daisy didn't know.

"We don't need much, Coulson did the shopping just the other day," he said and Daisy promptly tossed the list in the trash.

"We have a mission, eggs and paper towels can wait," Daisy said grabbing a cart before she made right for the cereal aisle. 

Deke passed right by the boxes of Cookie Crisp and Lucky Charms for the boxes of All Bran that Daisy had thrown away. "I don't know what was wrong with that other box but we should replace it." 

Daisy immediately took it from him and placed it back on the shelf. "That is not cereal, that is cardboard masquerading as cereal," Daisy said as she put her hands on his shoulders and steered him back to the more sugary side of the aisle. "THESE are real cereals."

Deke looked at the boxes and then her doubtfully. "No offense Aunt Daisy but they have cartoons on them like movie or toy boxes, I don' think these are for us."

"Precisely," Daisy said and she started pulling boxes from the shelf. Every single one with bright colors or cartoon animals on them to be precise. It was only at the end did she pull something that Deke considered close to what Nana had given him, Rice Krispies. "I've got plans for these," Daisy said with a final wink. 

The cart now full of cereal Daisy pressed on. "Come on, let's get the furball some catnip so he doesn't tear up my favorite jacket for kidnapping you for the afternoon. Then how about we grab an early lunch. I do believe there is a pizza place just around the corner."

\----------------------------------------

Fitz groaned as he sat up from the workbench. Daisy's once fractured gauntlets now better than new again after hours of meticulous work on both of their parts. 

"All done?" Jemma asked as she came up behind him to admire his work. Fitz groaned again as her hands worked the knot in the small of his back that had set in from being hunched over for so long. 

"Yeah," Fitz said unable to help himself from pressing into her touch. "Barring Elena actually squeezing them in her hands they should hold up to a few blows in training. I also recalibrated the frequencies so Daisy should be able to get more precise control." 

Fitz turned and pulled Jemma into a hug in thanks. 

"How about we collect our grandson, order some take out, get our pajamas on, and have a movie night in our bunk," he suggested. 

Jemma hummed in agreement, a night in with her family sounded positively heavenly right now. 

"Daisy took him to the store and lunch earlier, I imagine they are back by now," Jemma said and reluctantly pulled from Fitz's arms. But she quickly took his hand and headed out of the lab in search of Deke. 

They first checked the lounge and were surprised he wasn't there. When he wasn't with them it was his favorite place to be. Curled up on the couch watching TV, playing video games, reading, or tinkering with something he'd torn apart on the coffee table. 

"KItchen?" Fitz said.

"Kitchen," Jemma agreed and hoped Daisy wasn't spoiling Deke's dinner. 

Sure enough, as they approached they could hear Deke's laugh echoing down the halls. Hearing him happy brought a smile to both grandparents faces. 

However, when they arrived at the door they both froze in shock. What had to be no less than twenty boxes of cereal were open and scattered all over the counters. On the center island Deke stook with a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Daisy just behind him happily munching on a box of Trix as she instructed Deke to stir the gooey mixture inside of the bowl. 

Lemons was happily playing in front of the island with, of all things, a stuffed Lemon that they suspected was full of catnip by the way he was attacking yet cuddling it at the same time.

"Bloody Hell that's a lot of sugar," Fitz said in horror.

"Nana, Bobo!" Deke said happily. "Aunt Daisy got me real cereal and showed me how to make Rice Krispie Treats!"

Fitz could hardly disagree on the real cereal part and was delighted to see some old favorites among the boxes. He'd have to make sure to hide some away for a rainy day.

Jemma fixed Daisy with a glare to which the young Inhuman merely winked. "You were feeding him ALL BRAN Jemma, what else was I supposed to do? Besides, I'm the cool Aunt," Daisy said pausing to look into the hall to make sure that none of the other honorary Aunts could have heard that as they all considered themselves to be the cool Aunt. 

"I had four bowls of Lucky Charms!" Deke said pouring his gooey mixture into the waiting pan. "They are so yummy Nana! I want them for breakfast every day! Wait only the days you don't' make pancakes...or waffles...or french toast!"

"My work here is done," Daisy said proudly and she ruffled Deke's hair. "Thanks for a great day kid but I need to go give those gauntlets a good test run with Aunt Elena." 

"Thanks Aunt Daisy!" Deke said giving her a quick hug before he went back to work getting his treats perfectly in the pan. 

\----------------------------------------------------------

Hours later Daisy headed back to her bunk sweaty but satisfied after a good workout. She bid Elena farewell and came to Fitzsimmons bunk on the way to her own. She rapped lightly on the door, quiet enough that she wouldn't wake them if they were asleep.

"Come in," Fitz called quietly and Daisy peered in. The site before her bringing a smile to her face. The family was in a position she had found Fitzsimmons in many times over the years. Cuddled in bed with Chinese take out containers and a laptop playing one of their favorite movies. The only difference now was how Deke's head was in Jemma's lap, his stuffed monkey in his arms, and Lemons curled up on his stomach, the stuffed lemon from the store clutched in his paws. 

"Sugar crash?" Daisy asked.

"Very much so," Jemma said with a faint smile, her fingers brushing Deke's hair from his face. "Thank you, for keeping him company today, he had a wonderful time." 

"It was my pleasure," Daisy said. "He's a good kid and he reminds me so much of you two it hurts."

The pair smiled. and Daisy bid them goodnight, finally heading back into her bunk. 

She turned on the light and couldn't stop the huge smile that formed on her face. A plate sat on her bed with a rice crispy treat that had been formed into a daisy. The marshmallows from various other cereals they had purchased that day used to give it color. 

It was almost too cute to eat....almost.

Daisy took a bite and settled into her bed, she was most definitely the cool...and favorite Aunt.


End file.
